Tjpbight pianoforte



UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEicE.

R. E. LETTON, OF QUINCY, ILLINOIS.

UPRIGHT PIANOFORTE.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 9,301, dated October 5, 1852.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, R. E. LETTON, of the city of Quincy, county of Adams, and State' of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Upright Pianofortes; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a vertical section of a piano forte constructed according to my improvements, the section being taken parallel with, and close in front of the strings. Fig. 2, is a vertical section taken transversely to the sounding board. Fig. 3, is a back elevation of the frame. Fig. 4 is a side view of the action or striking part shown on a larger scale than the other figures.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in Figs. l, 2, and 8.

This invention consists in certain improvements inthe arrangement of the sounding board, metallic plate, and bridges, and also in the action 7 or striking parts. The improvenients in the arrangement of the bridges are only intended to be applied with the arrangement of strings which I e1nploy, but the other improvements are applicable in all upright piano-fortes. The arrangement of strings above referred to consists in placing the bass or longer strings in a different plane with and oblique to the shorter ones, which are vertical; but this I do not claim as my invention.

To enable those skilled in the art to make and use my invention I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

The frame is formed of upright standards A, A, bottom board B, top timber C, which is the tuning block, horizontal brace D, and two diagonal or oblique braces E, E', beA tween the standards, bottom board. and top timber. The Obliquity of these braces lis in nearly the same direction as that of the oblique strings F, F. The frame is further provided with iron tension rods a, a, passing up the back sides of the standards, and also with a diagonal or oblique tension rod G, which is placed between the oblique braces E, E, and passes through the bottom board B, through the standards A, A, and into the top timber. where it is received by a nut o. This oblique tension rod approaches the back of the frame near the middle of its length, and nearer to the front at ils ends (see dotted lines in Fig. 2); and by this means is caused when tightened up, to resist the strain of the oblique strings which tend to spring or bend the frame. The tension ofthe strings F, F, and of the tension rod vG, are resisted by the oblique braces E, E', which tend to keep the frame perfectly square and stiff.

The sounding board I-I, is secured to the uprights, to the bottom board, and to the top timber, extending the entire height and about two thirds of the entire width of the instrument. The metallic plate I, or as it is sometimes termed the cap is secured to the frame, a short distance in front of the sounding board. The upper part of this plate which carries the rest ZJ, b, for the upright or shorter strings J, J extends some distance over the sounding board, and is supported firmly by blocks c, c, which pass through the sounding board and rest against the standards A, A, this will be understood by referring to Figs. l, and 2. In Fig. 2, one of the blocks is shown in section passing through the sounding` board, and in Fig. l, the blocks are shown in dotted lines, and the dotted line CZ, represents the upper edge of the sounding board under the plate. The plate is secured to the blocks c, c, by screws e, e. The reason for extending the plate I, over the sounding board is to bring the upper part of the bridge K, over which the shorter strings pass', nearer to the center, and thus to give the upper notes the full benefit of the vibration of the sounding board and render them full and iirm.

The bass or long oblique strings F, F, are attached to, or pass around pins in a metal plate or bracket L, which is secured in, nearly a vertical position in iront of the metallic plate at the lower right hand corner (see Fig. 1,) from thence they pass over the bridge M, which rests on the sounding board, an opening being made in the metallic plate to admit the bridge; from thence crossing in front of the strings J, J, they pass over a curved bridge N, of wood or iron which is firmly secured in a nearly hori- .zontal position to the top timber or tuning block C, terminating in the upper left hand corner of the case; by this arrangement the greatest possible length of string is obtained. The bridge N, is brought a little lower than the end of the rest on the metallic plate, in order to bring the long strings within reach of the action, it being necessary to strike them within a certain distance of the ends to produce the greatest tone.

The action is all attached to the key board O, but in consequence of the smallness of the scale in which they would be represented in Figs. 'l and 2, I have shown it separate in Fig. 4L, where a part of the key board is shown, and where it will be understood as well as if shown in its place, one of the strings J, is shown in this figure and that will be sufficient to explain the operation of the hammers on all, both of J, J, and F, F. P, is the key. Q, R, is a bent lever termed the key lever, which hangs on a pivot g, in a small block upon the back end of the key. An upright wire h, is secured in the top of the key, and passes freely through the arm Q., of the bent lever. This wire is screwed and furnished above the arm Q, with a button or nut of leather or other material t', which is adjustable at various heights to regulate t-he height of the end of the said arm which is thrown up against it by a spring j, placed between it and the key. By thus adjusting the arm Q, the arm R, is adjusted to bring its point or upper end to any required position.

Attached to the back edge of the key board O, there is a perpendicular board S, running the entire length of the key board; to this board all the blocks 76, which carry the hammer butts T, are attached. The hammer butt hangs on a pivot Z, and carries the hammer U, in the usual way. The hammer is thrown up to strike when the front end of a key is depressed, by the point of the arm R, which acts under the shoulder m, and is thrown back immediately after striking by the weight of the butt, which is extended in the form of a long arm T. This part T, of the butt rests when the key is left free, upon a button 0, at the upper end of the wire 7L, and in that position it is represented in the drawing. This button 0, is adjustable on a screw on the wire to regulate the fall of the hammer. On the underside of the arm T, there is a small cushioned block p, the duty of' which is to fall on the button 0, immediately after the hammer has struck and while the key is retained. The but-ton 0, thus acts as a stop and prevents the entire descent of the hammer, only allowing it to fall back a short distance, and thus enabling the note to be repeated a number of times in rapid succession. The

buttons 0, by being adjusted at a proper height on the wire 72 is also intended to leave the point of the arm R, of the key lever free of the butt when the key is free, the key is shownA in red lines as depressed, the hammer being in the act of striking and just about to fall back. It will be understood by referring to the red lines that the point of the key lever in throwing up the hammer, arrives at the vertex of the shoulder m, and then passes it, leaving the hammer free to fall back and bring its cushioned block j), to the buttons 0, which it does instantaneously without very perceptibly displacing the key lever.

The dampers V, are in the form of a let- ,ter Z, and each hung at the foot or tail on a pivot Q, in a small block, secured to a board `W, which extends the whole length of the instrument and is hung on a stationary pivot or pivots r. Each damper is independent on its pivot Q, and is thrown ofl' the string before the note is struck by a button s, on an upright wire t, standing up from the key, the said button acting on an incline u, (see drawing). The damper does not fall whilethe key is retained, but when the key is released it falls against the string. The button s, is adjustable, being screwed on the wire t, and by adjusting it higher or lower the operation of the damper is regulated.

All the dampers work through a cushioned box X, secured in front of the board WV, and the board is intended to be connected with a foot pedal by which it may be turned on its pivot 1", so as to control the operation of all the dampers at once. The reason for disconnecting the dampers from the rest of the action is that they will not be liable to rattle when old, but play quickly and freely.

Vhat I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. Extending the upper part of the metallic plate or cap T, at the part where the shorter of the strings J, J, are placed, over the sounding board H, and supporting it by blocks or supports c, c, which pass through the sounding board to the frame timbers substantially as set forth, whereby the higher end of the bridge K, or that part on which the strings of the higher notes rest is allowed to be brought nearer to the center of the sounding board to get a better vibration.

2. The combination in the manner substantially as described of the cushioned block 70, and the adjustable button o, on the upright wire L, attached to the key, for the purpose of preventing the entire descent of t-he hammer after striking, until the key is left free.

R. E. LETTON. liVitnesses:

PI-IILo A. GOODWIN, JAS. R. W. HINCHMAN. 

